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Tom Buchanan
Tom Buchanan is the husband of Daisy Buchanan and also the father of Daisy's daughter. He was noted as being very arrogant and brutish, and had no qualms with destroying other people's lives just as long as it benefited him. He is an immensely wealthy husband, once a member of Nick’s social club at Yale. Personality Tom is powerfully built and hailing from a socially solid old family, Tom is an arrogant, hypocritical bully. His social attitudes are laced with racism and sexism, and he never even considers trying to live up to the moral standard he demands from those around him. He has no moral qualms about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle, but when he begins to suspect Daisy and Jay Gatsby of having an affair, he becomes outraged and forces a confrontation. When Myrtle says "Daisy" multiple times after he asks her to stop, he slaps her across the face. While Tom is neglectful to Daisy, he is not abusive. Tom would hit a woman. The Great Gatsby Nick goes across the bay to visit his cousin Daisy and her blue blooded husband Tom Buchanan, who went to Yale with Nick. Daisy introduces Nick to Jordan Baker, a golfer. Over dinner, we learn that Tom is pretty arrogant and racist, remarking on the rise of the colored empire. He gets a phone call, and Jordan tells Nick that Tom is having an affair. Later, Nick walks with Daisy, who says she has become cynical lately. Nick asks about her daughter, and Daisy mentions she is glad she had a girl and hopes she can be a fool, because, in her words, that's the best thing a girl in this world can be. Nick returns home and notices a figure standing on the pier and looking and reaching toward the green light, and Nick believes this is Gatsby. The doctor at the sanitarium convinces Nick to write a novel about his experience. He continues the story by writing about the Valley of Ashes, a desolate part of New York featuring a billboard with two eyes watching over everybody, said to be the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Nick and Tom are headed to the Yale Club when they get off the commuter train and head to a car repair garage run by George Wilson. Tom chats with him over business matters, and George's wife Myrtle comes downstairs. It becomes obvious that she is Tom's mistress. She mentions her sister is coming to New York and wants to introduce her to Nick. Later, at an apartment, while Tom and Myrtle are going at it in the bedroom, her sister Catherine comes in with two other friends. They begin to have a party, and Nick remarks that this is only the second time he's ever been drunk. At night, he watches from the window and looks upon the people in the town, saying he finds himself within and without the world he is in. Myrtle comes out of the bedroom shouting Daisy's name, enraging Tom and causing him to smack her hard across the face. Gatsby throws another party, this time having Daisy and Tom show up. She and Gatsby retreat to a nearby location where they begin to kiss passionately. Daisy says she wishes they could run away together. Gatsby is pulled away by his butler to settle a business dispute. After the party is over, Gatsby believes Daisy did not have a good time. He tells Nick that he needs her to tell Tom she doesn't love him so they can go back to Louisville and get married. Nick tells him he can't repeat the past, but Gatsby insists he can. He notes the first time he kissed Daisy when they first met, and Gatsby felt he had already married her. Before leaving, he tells Nick he is wrong about the past. Gatsby stops throwing parties for a while. One day, which happens to be the hottest day of the summer, he invites Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan over for lunch. Gatsby tries to hold Daisy's hand, but she panics and claims she is bored and wants to go into the city. Tom notices that she is feeling something for Gatsby, so he agrees to go into the city. Gatsby and Daisy drive off in his car while Tom takes Nick and Jordan. They stop for gas at George Wilson's garage, and he has learned of Myrtle's infidelity, but not that she's sleeping with Tom. The group meets up at a hotel where a man is cutting up a large block of ice to pass around because of the heat and for drinks. Tom starts to slowly antagonize Gatsby, hoping for a confrontation. He mocks his use of "old sport", claiming he lied about Oxford, and accuses him of bootlegging with Meyer Wolfsheim. Gatsby hits back by saying Daisy loves him and not Tom, putting her in an uncomfortable position. As Tom continues to egg him on, Gatsby snaps, throws the alcohol and grabs Tom, screaming at him and nearly hitting him. This frightens Daisy and Jordan. She and Gatsby leave. Tom decides to open a bottle of liquor and offers Nick some. He remarks that he just remembered that day was his birthday. Tom, Nick, and Jordan drive by the scene and discover Myrtle's corpse as the police are on the scene. Tom is visibly distraught but denies having known her well. He goes to George, who is grieving. Tom tells him that the car that hit Myrtle was driven by Gatsby. Nick tries to get in touch with Daisy, but she and Tom are leaving with their daughter, packing up everything and having their butler tell Nick they are gone. Nick adds that virtually nobody attended Gatsby's funeral except him. He would later go on to leave New York and go back to the Midwest, completely disillusioned. He also muses that Gatsby could not see that his dream of being with Daisy was behind him.